Classic China: Beijing & Sichuan May 10—Jun 02, 2010
Posted by Dion Hobcroft
Dion Hobcroft
Dion Hobcroft has been working for VENT since 2001. He has led many tours to Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Bhutan, India, Southwest Pacific, Cambodia, Thailand, China...Related Trips
This was an outstandingly successful tour, as we birded some of the most spectacular and species-rich forests in central China in unparalleled comfort. New hotels, highways, and the ever-helpful and friendly local people ensured a smooth tour. We also experienced some rustic hotels, hiked up into the mountains into bamboo and rhododendron forests, and explored the Tibetan plateau with its thousands of yaks and Tibetan cowboys. The modernization taking place in China proceeds at an unbelievable pace. I was constantly remarking to the group about a new tunnel, highway, hotel, statue, or cable car! Many participants ranked this trip amongst their best ever birding tours.
The birds were simply phenomenal. We connected with so many of the rarest, most spectacular, and most elusive species China has to offer. We set a new benchmark in Classic China tours with a new trip record and a very high strike rate for all clients seeing those most special birds. Better environmental protection, including a ban on rifle hunting, is having an enormously beneficial impact on mammals and large birds. We observed 15 species of mammals and nine pheasants and partridges on this tour.
We commenced our tour in Beijing. Our first morning at the Summer Palace was exciting, as migration was in full swing, and in the quieter corners we found quite a few excellent birds. The best were Tristram's and Chestnut buntings, Forest Wagtail, glowing Pallas's Leaf-Warblers, Black-capped Kingfisher, and a few Gray-capped Pygmy Woodpeckers. At the Temple of Heaven we enjoyed Oriental Greenfinch at arm's-length, while a lightning-fast Eurasian Hobby belted past. After lunch we walked through Tiananmen Square before ending up at the Forbidden City.
Our second full day at Beijing had us up early and off to Wild Duck Lake. With migration in full swing, the number of small warblers and flycatchers was extraordinary. Every bush and tree seemed to have some small passerine flipping around in it. Most of the waterfowl had already passed through this latitude, but we found a few Tundra Swans, Falcated Duck, and Chinese Spotbills. A Great Bittern could be heard booming, but remained elusive. We enjoyed excellent views of Amur Falcons, while a Eurasian Sparrowhawk just about parted Dale's and my hair as it dived after a Taiga Flycatcher. A spectacular pair of Eastern Marsh-Harriers gave super views. Some of the more interesting small passerines we observed included Radde's Warbler, Bluethroat, Chinese Thrush, Western Yellow Wagtail, and Yellow-throated Bunting. After lunch it was off to The Great Wall at Badaling where we joined the throng. Amongst the crowd we spotted a few stray birds including Godlewski's Bunting and handsome Daurian Redstarts. We basically ran out of time at the Forbidden City and spent half an hour exploring around the perimeter of a reservoir. Our first Red-billed Blue Magpie caused quite a sensation, while a Gray-faced Woodpecker remained firmly out of view.
The bustling city of Cheng Du turned up some good sightings on our first afternoon in a bamboo city park. Although busy with people enjoying mah-jong and sunflower seeds, it came through with Vinous-throated Parrotbill, a surprise Dusky Fulvetta, super Black-throated Tits, and some very tame Chinese Grosbeaks. A visit to the Leshan Buddha, a memorable experience in itself, also provided sightings of many species, with the spectacular Yellow-rumped Flycatcher and Rufous-faced Warbler being very cooperative. We finished our afternoon in some secondary forest near the base of Emei Shan. This location has always been very bird-rich, and it did not disappoint this year when in quick succession we enjoyed watching a pair of Hwamei bathing, superb Slaty-backed Forktails, and a Brown Dipper followed by a perched pair of Black Baza.
Our Sichuan forest birding commenced at Emei Shan, the sacred Buddhist peak at the crossroads of Chinese bird distribution. The Golden Summit was shrouded in fog, but we came through with some good sightings. The leader was simply astonished when he found a Pere David's Owl sleeping on a stump close to the road. Wow! Plenty of other great birds followed with excellent views of Crimson-breasted Woodpecker, Streak-throated Fulvetta, and Long-tailed Minivet. The Wannian Monastery was highlighted by a Chinese Blue Flycatcher singing its heart out right next to us, plus a remarkably close Collared Owlet. The interesting blackish-bellied subspecies, ricketti, of White-browed Shrike-Babbler gave a great view.
Our next move was to Wawu Shan—a must-visit superb forest birding location. On the summit we found the rare Three-toed and Fulvous parrotbills, and the recently described Sichuan Treecreeper. Lower down, the mountain was alive with the endemic Emei Liocichla; Golden, Gray-headed, and Great parrotbills; the scarce Emei Leaf-Warbler; and unforgettable Lady Amherst's Pheasants. What a bird! If this were not enough, we had excellent views of the scarce Buffy Laughingthrush and the cosmic Red-winged Laughingthrush, a pair of the rare Sharpe's Rosefinch (a split out of Spot-winged Rosefinch), Darjeeling Woodpecker, and Rufous-bellied Niltava.
The devastating earthquake of 2008 had us changing our normal itinerary and we headed to Dujianyang to get our bus through some road works and into the Wolong Biosphere Reserve. The damage of this massive earthquake was simply overwhelming and I scarcely recognized the road into Wolong where whole villages had been buried and house-sized boulders lay next to the road. What a scene of devastation.
Fortunately we had been able to get access to some new wooden rooms and found them to be delightfully comfortable and warm (although both Malcolm and Dion got an electric shock from their respective hot water systems!) We explored the steep hillside behind the hotel, and with a bit of playback had a stunning male Golden Pheasant running circles around us. The next two days were spent hiking up to the Wuyipeng panda research camp. Our slow wander up turned up some excellent birds with great views of Indian Blue Robin, Slaty Bunting, Pere David's Tit, and Sooty Tit. We had great views of a female and subadult male Temminck's Tragopan, Fire-capped Tit, Bay Woodpecker, male Firethroat, Golden-breasted Fulvetta, and White-browed Bush-Robin. I had a point blank view of a tufted deer while our spotlighting mission turned up a Pere David's Chinese vole!
Word came through of road closures to Maerkang—no traffic allowed through at all. We persevered to spend the best part of a day at the famous Balang Shan pass, and it was well worth it. We connected with a great cross section of high altitude specialty birds here in great weather. Lammergeier, nesting Wallcreeper, Grandala, Snow Partridge, a distantly-scoped Tibetan Snowcock, Red-fronted Rosefinch, Yellow-billed Chough, Plain and Brandt's mountain-finches, Alpine Accentor, and Snow Pigeon were amongst the rich pickings at this 4,500-meter pass.
The next itinerary change came into play with the leader heading into uncharted territory, and we spent the night in the rather ordinary town of Jiangyou. Next came the rain, and it pretty much rained all day as we headed to Jiuzhaighou. Leo spotted a fabulous Crested Kingfisher and, as we began to ascend some quality forest habitat, I remarked, "Keep your eye on the sawn-off stumps, as pheasants like to perch on these in bad weather." This was immediately followed by a "stop the bus" Blue Eared-Pheasant! Here was the horse-chicken (its Chinese name literally) next to the highway with a pair of Blood Pheasants all sitting on stumps. Big smiles all around.
From our five-star luxury at Jiuzhaighou we took the new expressway to Rouergai in the eastern Tibetan plateau. We had a great day sighting our first Black-necked Cranes (Malcolm's final crane species), plenty of robust Upland Buzzards, the peculiar Hume's Ground-pecker, the huge Tibetan Lark, and glowing Citrine Wagtails of the Tibetan breeding population. After peering into dense bamboo in Wolong and battling with skulkers, everyone loved birding on the plateau. We spent the afternoon at Flower Lake with highlights including Red-crested Pochard, breeding plumaged Curlew Sandpipers, and Spotted Redshank.
The next day we explored the plateau further afield, making it to the town of Hong Yuan and returning back to Rouergai. It was another excellent day with great views of nesting White-browed Tit; Rufous-necked, Tibetan, and White-rumped snowfinches; several Little Owls; several Saker Falcons; a flock of Bar-headed Geese; and at least 50 Black-necked Cranes. Mammals finally came in with some excellent sightings of a wolf hunting Himalayan marmots, both red and Tibetan foxes, and after a lengthy chase I squeaked up an Altai weasel that was being pursued by Daurian Jackdaws.
It was time to return to the luxury of Jiuzhaighou, but we ran a quick errand back out on the plateau in the early morning so folks could do a bit of shopping in town. I was not holding out high hopes when a cursory scan turned up a Demoiselle Crane—fantastic. After prayer flags and the like had been purchased, we spent some time in scrubby plateau edge habitat and it was pretty quiet. Then all of a sudden a flock of Azure-winged Magpies went ballistic, so we decided to see what all the fuss was about. After a bit of effort, and a military style pincer maneuver, we found a superb leopard cat hunkered in a willow thicket. Quite a good turn up. We also enjoyed Dusky Warblers and a female Tiger Shrike.
Jiuzhaighou was simply spectacular and we made the most of this incredible reserve with its sparkling-blue lakes, complex waterfalls, scaleless fish, and alpine scenery. We tried to seek out some quieter corners and found a few good birds for our effort. Perhaps most unusual was the Gray-backed Shrike that killed a White-bellied Redstart almost at our feet. Collared and White-winged grosbeaks, an excellent Chinese Bush-Warbler, Collared Crow, White-throated Dipper, and several Gray-headed Bullfinches were amongst the highlights. At night we had the most amazing experience with a Himalayan Tawny Owl pouncing on a forest rodent only three meters from us.
Finally it was time to head back to Chengdu. We spent one night in the Wanglang Nature Reserve and it was well worth it, with a pair of Blue Eared-Pheasants making a regular appearance near the headquarters. On the drive in, Alison spotted a tufted deer swimming across the dam and everyone had a view of its head and white-rimmed ears! Cold, gray, and rainy conditions hampered the birding, and this was especially frustrating with a Rufous-headed Robin singing mid-morning on the other side of a raging torrent in a steady downpour. Katherine was especially delighted when a Chestnut-headed Tesia crisply focused in her binoculars—a definite jinx laid to rest and a cracking bird to boot.
We returned to Cheng Du enjoying a night at the Sichuan Opera, a highlight for the tour, especially the shadow puppet master who gave me goose bumps. Our final morning of birding was spent with the giant pandas at a breeding center. This enabled us to get up-close with this most charismatic vegetarian carnivore. The birding was also excellent with a great view of a male Golden Pheasant, a Chinese Bamboo-Partridge, Ashy-throated Parrotbill, Black-winged Cuckoo-shrike, and Streak-breasted Scimitar-Babbler.
It was also fantastic to experience some of the cultural highlights, including the incredible temples and monasteries, plus a good bowl of tasty noodles in a roadside stall where rarely a westerner has been sighted. This was also a gastronomic journey, as we ate different dishes on a daily basis—all hot, fresh, and tasty.
I really appreciated the wonderful help from Mr. Jiang, our truly superb driver, and our interpreter-guide, Leo, who did a wonderful job and enjoyed a good laugh. Leo is a Chinese national treasure. They both did a wonderful job.
I wish to thank most sincerely all the participants who came along for this adventure. While at times physically demanding, I am sure you will all remember this tour as being one of the all-time greats. So a special thank you for making this such a successful tour.
I look forward to traveling with you again in the future.